Spring~the season of rebirth aaaaannnnnd... PUPPIES!

As most of you already know if you follow my blog, I lost my lovely Maremma, Annie, last fall.  I have diligently been trying to find the right partner for my remaining Maremma, John, ever since I was able to think about finding a new Maremma.   Good news, I have found her!  I happened to find Coleen Williams of Stoneybrook Maremmas in Pequot Lakes, MN and after speaking to her at length, I feel confident that I've found my new dog.  So, the deposit is going out today and I will making a trip to Minnesota in a couple weeks.  In the meantime, here's a video of the 11, and yes, I said 11 puppies that Colleen forwarded to me last week.   Now the hard part starts, finding a name for our new little girl.  Ideas!!!!????  :)

Lamb countdown clock is getting closer to zero.  

Winter has finally arrived in Wisconsin!

That which angers us, controls us.

Ashford Spinning Wheel for sale (will trade towards a loom)

I have an Ashford Spinning wheel for sale, works great, I just prefer spinning on my other wheel and this one just sits in my living room looking pretty.  Included with this wheel:  2 flyers, one is a jumbo flyer, 3 regular sized spindles and 4 jumbo spindles (3 are of them are new), a lazy kate and a new rubber drive band.   I will include a package of Shetland roving too.

I'd love to trade for a loom or sell outright.  Spring clearance continues...........

Asking $375.00  (or make me an offer)  Sold!!!

608/558-5099

That which angers us, controls us.

DVD is getting close to being done.........

Youth Showmanship class at 2011 MSSBA show (Kate speaking to each child)  

Anyone that attended WSWF last year might recall that we had 2 special judges with us, Alan Hill and Kate Sharp, and they graciously agreed to judge our little mid-west show.  Turns out, that little show ended up having over 100 entries, which made us one of the largest Shetland sheep shows in the US.  You might also recall that we did a lot of video taping of the 2 seminars they gave while they were with us, the Ram/Ewe Inspection Seminar and the Judging clinic.
The editing process for that video is nearing completion and we will be able to order dvd's very soon.  A lot of you have already sent me requests for the dvd and rest assured, I still have your requests.  If anyone else would care for a copy, please let me know and I'll add you to my list.
I'm hoping to have the dvd available to mail out in 30-60 days, (erring on the side of caution here) and I will be incorporating some of the stills from the show as well.  It would be lovely to simply recover the cost of filming and editing for this project, it's taken countless hours of editing and we aren't quite done yet.  :)

No only are Kate and Alan extremely experienced Shetland sheep judges, but they are breeders of Shetland sheep, which is rare to find in NA, so it was a treat to find individuals that have so much knowledge of Shetland sheep.  They've both done hundreds of Ram Inspections, as well as regularly judge Shetland sheep shows at home.  I can't think of a better way to have the breed evaluated than by experienced breeders, inspectors and judges.  Most of  our judges in NA are livestock judges, and aren't fortunate enough to have as many Shetland sheep to evaluate, so it's tough to get that much experience under their belts.  What I'd love to see is "breeder judges" for Shetland sheep, that would be a much better scenario for our little sheep.  I'm not saying that livestock judges are bad, only that they would have a hard time compiling the knowledge of our breed standard without  having a chance to be exposed to more Shetlands.  More exposure, means more experience and more experience can't be a bad thing.

More youth showing..........I can't help it, I just like seeing kids and sheep.  :)

That which angers us, controls us.

Temperance's micron test

I purchased Temperance from Sheltering Pines and finally got her home a few weeks ago.  She had just started to roo when I went to MI to get her, so I took that wool and shoved it into an envelope and sent it off to Texas A & M lab for testing.

Got the results back last night in the mail.

24.4 AFD/4.7 SD/ 19.2 CV/ 9.1 CEM/ 90.9 CF/ 23.4 SF   I'd say she was well worth the trip.  :)

She is a Sheltering Pines Salicional x Wintertime Black Forrest daughter.  **born March of 2010**



That which angers us, controls us.

Pond at my place of work this morning.

Honey Creek on the way to work this morning

Frosty bush from this morning

Pond shot again...........my boss has done a beautiful job with it. 

Peregrine Falcon that was lunching at the bird feeders........keeping in mind that falcons eat meat and not seeds.  Unfortunately, one of the birds was his lunch.  This was also taken at work.   

That which angers us, controls us.

Girls in the snow.......

Catherine is new to OK Acres this fall and is bred to Thor 

Ceylon had such lovely ram lambs from Bug last spring, there was no question that I would repeat that breeding.   

Challis and Farrah are leased ewes from Lori Stephenson .  Challis has great structure and I bred her to Bug, my best ram.  Farrah is bred to Camden, since both are spotted, this combo should yield some flash.  

Garnet had a beautful morrit Yuglet, flecket sokket ram lamb  last year....she is bred back to Bug and I am hoping for another spotted polled ram from her.

Velma never fails to give me stunning lambs, my best ewe lamb last year came from her.  She is bred to  Thor and I'm hoping for a black/white polled spotted ram from her!!!

That which angers us, controls us.